7 Years

Johanna and I met at a similar time in both our lives. We had finished college and were coming home to teach. Once we started spending time together it quickly became clear. God brought us together.

Our engagement was a little different. She was teaching in Koliganek while I had a traveling teaching job. Every few weeks, we'd meet in Dillingham for our pre-Canan classes with Father Kelly. He was thorough. We took personality tests, discussed child rearing and home finance. No stone was left unturned. And on August 4, 2001, we married at Holy Rosary Church here in Dillingham.

Father Kelly set us on the right path and offered words at our wedding I will never forget. With so many couples struggling, we find ourselves still very much in love. Maybe more then in the beginning. Our love is emotional, passionate, and most importantly, centered around something other then ourselves. We both love God more then each other.

If God is love, as scripture teaches, then we cannot give love to another without going through Him. Couples may not go to church or subscribe to any particular religion, but look at those couples who still gaze at each other, still hold hands, still give each other a kiss for no apparent reason. I'll bet they treat each other as the Bible suggests.

So on our 7th anniversary in the busiest summer of our lives I tell you surely that I love my wife. I love her more then my job, more then those dogs, more then our children, but not more then God. I give God to her.